How I evolved to SKIMO

 I've always been an adventurous person. Getting outside into nature isn't just something I do, it is a way of living for me. 

I started out as a swimmer and runner up until high school when I began competing in triathlons. I raced in USA triathlon's youth elite series which is "draft-legal" meaning the bike was pack riding. This made the sport not just an endurance sport, but an event that required a lot of skills to master (similar to skimo) and a heavy emphasis on transitions! In ITU style triathlons, if your transitions were poor, you'd miss the bike-pack and suddenly be out of the race! Sounds similar to skimo. In that time period, I'd dreamed of making a world team. Being back of the pack to a soon-to-be (now a current) Olympian, Taylor Knibb, I felt that my potential in triathlon was limited. Admittedly, I felt too small for the sport and the highest levels of competition. 

But I stayed persistent in the sport and kept training because I loved it, and enjoyed seeing personal improvement and learning how to be an athlete. I loved the thrill of competition. Even if I wasn't at the highest levels of racing, I craved competition like it was candy. Craved the adrenaline; the intoxicating rush of being at your limit and seeing a competitor coming closer to your view point, then somehow mustering up the energy to pass them. 

2016 USAT Youth/Junior Elite Nationals 

I competed throughout high school, winning state championships in swimming and triathlon, and in 2019 found my way to Boulder, Colorado with full intentions to compete at the collegiate level for CU Boulder's team.  

Coming from Connecticut to Boulder was a shock to the system in the best way possible. With views as good as Boulder and endless mountain terrain in Colorado, the lure out of the water and into the trails was growing stronger and stronger. My passion for triathlons was dwindling. Staring at a lane-line and being confined to the roads began to not feel adventurous and fun, but more like working a desk job knowing there's fields of wildflowers and talus slopes to be running through. 

Ultimately what had ended my time as a triathlete was a not so subtle bike accident. I had been hit by a car from behind. This resulted in six fractures all along the spine. One of which was a burst fracture which miraculously had missed my spinal cord. I was out of all physical activities for months and needed assistance with many basic functions throughout the entire summer of 2020. The recovery process was extreme but rapid. By fall of 2020 I was moving through the mountains and backcountry skiing for the first time just 8 months after.

I am so thankful for that time in my life. It's not often people are grateful to be hit by a car. And believe me, being narrowly shy of permanently ending my life in sport was not something I took lightly. But the accident gave me a refreshing perspective on life. It really gave me a chance to reflect on the path that I was on, and what life really meant to me. I'd spend afternoons sitting in my backyard, listening to the birds, observing bees pollinating lavender, and dreaming about the next chapter of my endurance life. I wanted it to be a lot more play. Playing in the mountains, running up steep slopes and spending all seasons outside. 

I knew uphill skiing was going to be my new form of play when summer trails were limited. My first true skimo experience was at Winter Park CO. I had just gotten cross country rentals at a local shop, and the day prior took them to a local backcountry trail - sans skins. As I started my ascent up Mary Jane, I immediately toppled over and slid back down. "How in the world do people do this?" I was fit, and confused. Luckily, a local avid skinner turned to me with a raised eyebrow and piped up, "DO you have skins on those?" I had no idea what skins were. Not a clue. The Coloradan patiently educated me on what skins were and how they work. With my newly gained knowledge, I headed back home, and shortly purchased my own pair of skins and a skimo setup. 

Just about a year after that experience, I was at Arapahoe Basin about to enter into the unknown of my first skimo race. I had trained a few times on the course, and felt ready to use my summer running fitness to try to hang with some of the best skimo athletes in the US at the USSMA national qualifier. Sure enough, within seconds of the race I knew I had a lot to improve *cue getting dropped by a skimo start.

That race was the start of a new journey into being the best skimo athlete I can be. In that race, I had held the lead of the U23 women's field for most of the race up until the last 200m when I fell from poor form and the wrong poles. My now teammate, Wren Pyle had swiftly helped me to pick up my poles and skin so I could keep moving forward. Unfortunately I fell a second time and lost several minutes from the repeated error. After that race, this season has been filled with a lot of training and skill work for the upcoming national championships in Vail, CO. Regardless of how the race goes, I know one thing for certain: the sport of skimo is something I am planning to invest in for a long time. Whether that's gearing up for a start line with fiery competition or swiftly moving through the mountains exploring my backyard terrain, skimo is here to stay. I would encourage anybody looking for a way to explore outside in the winter to try out uphill skiing.